Fire in Union City multi-family home displaces four families, official says

Google MapsA fire at a three-story multi-family home on 35th Street between Bergenline and Central avenues displaced four families living in the building.

A two alarm fire in a three-story multi-family home Union
City yesterday displaced four families, a fire official said today.

North Hudson Fire and Rescue Chief Frank Montagne said the
fire in a three-story wood frame house on 35th Street started near a dresser in
a bedroom on the top floor of the building and quickly spread into attic space
under the roof.

Montagne said a quick response from firefighters, who arrived
on the scene four minutes after the fire was reported at 6:47 p.m., and a
firewall in the neighboring building kept the fire from spreading to different
buildings.

"It was a good, aggressive stop to the fire by our
firefighters," he said. "We didn't know about the firewall until we were
checking the walls for fire in the other building."

The fire caused substantial damage to the top floor and
roof, and as a result the Red Cross relocated the four families living in the
building.

Montagne also said the neighboring building, which is
attached to the one where the fire broke out, suffered minor damage as
firefighters broke apart the wall to check for fire within the wall.

Montagne said the department had the fire under control
within a half hour of arrival and closed out the scene around 8:45 p.m. He
added the fire was determined to be accidental and is under investigation into
how exactly it started.